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We choose to listen to the words of men who were PRESENT with the Lord and recorded His words. That's called a first hand account, not hearsay. Peace
They didn't record his words verbatim. My priest put it this way. "An hour from now you can go somwhere and tell someone what I said in my sermon today, but you will not remember word-for-word what I said, and you will remember only some of what I said, and you will remember it as you heard and perceived it." The original written "gospel" was likely a book of Jesus's sayings as remembered by those who knew him. Perhaps the Gospel of Thomas is closerr to the original than the others.
It's not the exact quotable words that are the point. I am mystified as to how many people cannot grasp this concept.
They didn't record his words verbatim. My priest put it this way. "An hour from now you can go somwhere and tell someone what I said in my sermon today, but you will not remember word-for-word what I said, and you will remember only some of what I said, and you will remember it as you heard and perceived it." The original written "gospel" was likely a book of Jesus's sayings as remembered by those who knew him. Perhaps the Gospel of Thomas is closerr to the original than the others.
It's not the exact quotable words that are the point. I am mystified as to how many people cannot grasp this concept.
It's real easy for those of us who hear the Spirit speak. It's called the INSPIRATION of the Spirit. When He speaks, you write. If you missed something, you can ask Him to bring it back to you, and He does. They heard Him, they wrote. Simple. Automatic writing in the world of flesh, is the counterfeit of this. Peace
It's real easy for those of us who hear the Spirit speak. It's called the INSPIRATION of the Spirit. When He speaks, you write. If you missed something, you can ask Him to bring it back to you, and He does. They heard Him, they wrote. Simple. Automatic writing in the world of flesh, is the counterfeit of this. Peace
I've always been interested in this concept, chiefly because so many people who feel guided by the spirit write such wildly divergent things.
I've always been interested in this concept, chiefly because so many people who feel guided by the spirit write such wildly divergent things.
It's really very simple. Take a pad of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the right side, write down everything the Lord PERSONALLY said to you about some aspect of His written Word.
On the left side, write down everything you believe about His Word. If the two don't line up, some revision of the left side column is warranted.
I did this myself and continue to check myself, over what He actually taught me, versus what I picked up through association, my best guess, heard someone say one time, read somewhere, ect.
Obviously, the key here is hearing Him. If you don't hear Him, ask for the baptism in His Spirit and to give you the hearing ear. Next ask for His wisdom, which He says He gives out LIBERALLY to ALL who ASK. Next, BELIEVE you receive what you ask for and keep studying. He speaks to those who stay in His Word, and diligently seek Him, and He starts by speaking ABOUT His Word, so you have something to compare the Voice to. People complain about not hearing Him. Well, what do you have to compare the Voice to? Is the Word in you? We are to compare spiritual things (the word) to spiritual things (the Voice/His Spirit).
Failure to do ALL of the above is WHY, you see so many divergent opinions. Peace
It's really very simple. Take a pad of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the right side, write down everything the Lord PERSONALLY said to you about some aspect of His written Word.
On the left side, write down everything you believe about His Word. If the two don't line up, some revision of the left side column is warranted.
I did this myself and continue to check myself, over what He actually taught me, versus what I picked up through association, my best guess, heard someone say one time, read somewhere, ect.
Obviously, the key here is hearing Him. If you don't hear Him, ask for the baptism in His Spirit and to give you the hearing ear. Next ask for His wisdom, which He says He gives out LIBERALLY to ALL who ASK. Next, BELIEVE you receive what you ask for and keep studying. He speaks to those who stay in His Word, and diligently seek Him, and He starts by speaking ABOUT His Word, so you have something to compare the Voice to. People complain about not hearing Him. Well, what do you have to compare the Voice to? Is the Word in you? We are to compare spiritual things (the word) to spiritual things (the Voice/His Spirit).
Failure to do ALL of the above is WHY, you see so many divergent opinions. Peace
If I went and liked the atmosphere, I'd probably start volunteering for a bunch of stuff...child care? Sure. Food pantry? Sure. Sunday school? Sure. I don't want to get involved. I'm retired. The next thing I know, I'd be hip deep in mud in someplace in Africa.
There are some good churches with programs that serve the local community and some highly questionable ones that seem only to be paying for large buildings with extremely high mortgages. The former are becoming much harder to find.
I don't know what to think anymore. I've watched several churches implode from within, and I'm scared to get too involved until I've carefully checked under the rug and in the back closets.
Churches are nothing like they were when I was growing up.
You mean so much for allowing the fickle conscience of man dictate what is good, and instead relying on the Spirit that rules over it? Or do you think your conscience is incapable of lying to you? Peace
When you take a Bible written and compiled by human hand and minds and use it as a stand-in for God by believing it is infallible, you have made an Idol just as surely as making a Golden Calf. THAT is idolatry and Bible worshipers are guilty of idolatry. You should be worshiping God and following Christ's instructions to love God and each other every day and repent when you don't. You should NOT be following words "written in ink" as if they are God's word and NOT following the Comforter sent in Christ's name to guide us to the truth God has "written in our hearts" in Agape under the New Covenant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rbbi1
We choose to listen to the words of men who were PRESENT with the Lord and recorded His words. That's called a first-hand account, not hearsay. Peace
This is wrong and even a cursory study of biblical history would reveal it. Much of the provenance and authorship of the Bible is simply unknown. Any pretense that there are first-hand accounts is preposterous. That is why we were sent the Comforter in Christ's name to guide us to the truth by comparing what is written to what God has "written in our hearts." When you do not sincerely use what is in your heart to test the spirit of what is written, you are ignoring the New Covenant and the guidance of the Spirit.
You mean so much for allowing the fickle conscience of man dictate what is good, and instead relying on the Spirit that rules over it? Or do you think your conscience is incapable of lying to you? Peace
Your problem is you cannot trust your own heart because you have lived on a diet of how desperately wicked your own heart is for 32 years, to the point that you believe you cannot trust it. It is nigh onpossible to reason with you.
Let me count the ways.....
I was raised in a traditional northern baptist church. My father was episcopal and my mother was Lutheran. I am good with God, and believe in the power of prayer, yet I haven't attended church for 50 years.
Sometimes I think I want to, but there are things that hold me back. Just this week, a couple of nice men from the local baptist church stopped to invite us to Easter services. I'm tempted, but I know what I'm like.
If I went and liked the atmosphere, I'd probably start volunteering for a bunch of stuff...child care? Sure. Food pantry? Sure. Sunday school? Sure. I don't want to get involved. I'm retired. The next thing I know, I'd be hip deep in mud in someplace in Africa.
i dont think those are bad reasons. Maybe set a boundary and go with it.
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